At age 27 Mark Cooper ran from Amsterdam to Barcelona, covering the equivalent of 50 marathons in 56 days.
He did this in memory of his mother, Sheila, who died from a brain haemorrhage when he was only 14 and raised more than £30,000 for head injury charity Edinburgh Headway in Great Britain.

“The staff and volunteers at Edinburgh Headway do a fantastic job. The information and support they provide is a real comfort and once I’d decided to take on this challenge, there was only one charity I had in mind,” Mark said.

Mark ran his first 10K race in 2007, after he had just given up smoking. It was the proudest moment of his life.
This proved to him that he could achieve things with the right attitude! It led him to taking on other challenges, like cycling 1,000 miles with a friend from Lands End to John O Groats (LeJog) in 2009 in 11 days, setting a course record for running 100 miles on Hadrian’s Wall in July 2010 (16 hrs 59) before Mark started running 1,311 miles from Amsterdam to Barcelona:

01 May Amsterdam 4:11
02 May Woerden 4:33
03 May Gorinchem 4:05
04 May Spoordonk 4:23
05 May Borkel 4:46
06 May Valkenswaard 5:24
07 May Turnhout 5:01
09 May Halen 5:02
10 May Hedenge 4:32
11 May Profondeville 4:23
12 May Wanlin 4:42
13 May Bertrix 4:30
14 May Verdun 4:38
15 May Lac de Madine 4:11
17 May Pont A Mousson 4:30
18 May Pont St Vincent 4:36
19 May Charmes 4:41
20 May Thielouze 4:46
21 May Amance 4:24
23 May Rupt Sur Saone 4:36
24 May Prantigny 4:38
25 May Drambon 4:41
26 May Beaune 4:30
27 May Chagny 4:21
28 May Cluny 4:30
30 May Macon 4:02
31 May Lurcy 4:38
1 June Pollionnay 4:28
2 June Condrieu 4:11
3 June Campagne 4:03
4 June Le Chelyard 4:29
5 June Aubenas 4:37
7 June Ruoms 4:37
8 June Les Vans 4:12
9 June Saint-Ambroix 4:12
10 June Saint-Ambroix 3:20
11 June Lezan 3:44
12 June Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort 3:54
14 June Saint-Guilhelm-le-Desert 3:43
15 June Pezenas 3:42
16 June Colombiers 3:41
17 June Bizanet 3:28
18 June Thuir 4:08
19 June Maurellias las Illas 3:40
20 June Agullana 3:52
21 June Roixa 3:38
22 June Blanes 3:43

The expedition took him from Amsterdam, through Belgium, and France to Spain. The final marathon into Barcelona took Mark 3 hrs 08 minutes.

Mark was awarded the Inspiration award from Jog Scotland in 2010 and has received letters of support from ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and SNP Leader Alex Salmond.

He was also recently awarded a certificate of congratulations from Headway UK. Other nominations include the Daily Mail “Unsung Hero” Award 2010 and the Daily Record’s “Great Scot” Award.

“It is true that nobody likes the feeling of hitting the wall but it’s not the end of your adventure, just another chapter in it and probably one of the most memorable parts of it.” Mark Cooper

Photo credits: Merlijn Smeele